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BIOGRAPHICAL 
HISTORICAL- 



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AND CLASSICAL 



LITERATURE 



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J. M. STRADLING & COMPANY 

PUBLISHEEIS 

PHILADELPHL^, PA* 







LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap,..f:t.. Ci/l>vryit No. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



81ielf_r^ 



THE STORY 



OF 



A Great General 



ULYSSES S. GRANT 



BY 

HENRY W. ELSON, A.M. 



-^— 



J. M. STRADLING & COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



£^72 



34635 



Copyright, 1899 
By J. M. STRADLING & COMPANY 




J 1899 




WESTCOTT & THOMSON. 
ELECTROTYPERS, PHILADA. 



f r ^^ ri 9 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

I. Early Life of General Grant 5 

II. Grant at West Point 10 

III. Returning West 15 

IV. The Young Soldier in Love 18 

V. The Mexican War . 21 

VI. Close of the Mexican War ij 

VII. A Few Years of Peace 31 

VIII. Beginning of the Civil War 36 

IX. Fort Donelson and Pittsburg Landing .... 41 

X. Vicksburg and Chattanooga 46 

XL From the Wilderness to Appomattox 55 

XII. General Grant becomes President 62 

XIII. Tour Around the World 66 

3 




GENERAL U. S. GRANT. 



THE STORY OF GENERAL GRANT. 



I. 

EARLY LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

In this great land of ours there are many 
boys to-day in the schools who will become 
famous men. There are presidents of the 
United States, and senators, and soldiers, and 
authors. There are boys whose names will 
be known over the world and whose deeds will 
be praised long after they are gone. Who are 
these boys ? Time alone will tell. 

There is a far greater number who will not 
become great and famous, whose names and 
deeds will not be known far beyond their own 
homes. But this is true, every boy and girl 
can lead an honest, useful life, and can be a 
shining light within his own circle, whether 
it be large or small. 

Nothing can inspire us to do great and noble 
things more than to read of those who have 



GENERAL GRANT. 



done such things. I shall therefore give you 
in this little volume a short history of one 
whose name is everywhere known, and whose 
deeds will long be remembered. 

Sixty years ago he was a school boy. The 
g^reat world did not then know and he did not 
know that he was destined to do much toward 
saving his country, and then to be elected to 
the highest office in the nation. 

Let us now begin the story. General Grant 
was born in a little town in Ohio, Point Pleas- 
ant, in Clermont County. Ohio has been the 
birthplace of more presidents than any other 
State except Virginia. 

General Grant's father, whose name was 
Jesse Grant, came from Westmoreland County, 
Pennsylvania. His father, Noah Grant, was a 
soldier in the Revolution. They moved to 
Ohio when Jesse was very young. 

When he became a man he married Miss 
Hannah Simpson who had come from Mont- 
gomery County, Pennsylvania. Their first 
child was born April 27, 1822. They named 
him Hiram Ulysses. Hiram was the name of 
a king mentioned in the Bible ; Ulysses w^as 



GENERAL GRANT. 



the name of an ancient prince and hero of 
Greece. 

The little house in which the boy was born 
was moved a few years ago to Columbus, the 
State capital, and placed in the fair grounds. 

The year following the birth of their little 
boy the family moved to Georgetown, in Brown 
County, and it was here that the boyhood of 
our young hero was spent. 

Ulysses' father was anxious to have his boy 
well educated ; he sent him to school from the 
time he reached school age until he was seven- 
teen. 

The schools in those days were much poorer 
than our schools at present. But Ulysses 
Grant had acquired a fair education by the time 
he was seventeen ; though he afterward said 
that he was always more fond of riding and 
driving horses than he was of studying. Indeed, 
one of the passions of his boyhood was his 
fondness for horses. 

Various stories are told of his dealing with 
horses when a boy. When he was very young 
he became the horseman of the family, drawing 
the firewood, following the plow, and the like. 



8 GENERAL GRANT. 

His father was a tanner as well as a farmer, 
but Ulysses did not like the tanning business; 
he preferred the outdoor work of the farm. • 

When about eight years old he set his heart 
on having a fine colt owned by a neighbor. 
His father offered the man twenty dollars for 
the colt, but he asked twenty-five. When the 
man was gone Ulysses begged his father to 
purchase the colt. 

Mr. Grant was very willing to please his boy, 
but said the colt was not worth more than 
twenty dollars. However, he gave the boy 
twenty-five dollars and sent him for the colt, 
saying that he should first offer him twenty 
dollars ; if he would not take that, offer twenty- 
two and a half,- and if he still refused, he might 
give him the twenty-five. 

Ulysses hastened to the neighbor with the 
money and said : '* Papa says I may offer you 
twenty dollars for the colt, but if you won't 
take that, I am to offer you twenty-two and a 
half, and if you won't take that to give you the 
twenty-five." 

You can easily guess how much the man 
received for his colt. The story got out among 



GENERAL GRANT. 



the village boys, and it was a long time before 
Ulysses heard the last of it. 

When he was about twelve years old an in- 
cident occurred that will illustrate the character 
shown by General Grant in after years. A 
circus came to the town, and one of the at- 
tractions was a trick-mule trained to throw its 
rider. 

The manager offered a silver dollar to any 
one who would ride the mule around the ring. 
Several boys tried it and were thrown over the 
animal's head. 

At length a sturdy little fellow stepped up 
and said he would like to try that mule. He 
held on bravely till almost around the ring 
when he was thrown like the rest. Jumping to 
his feet and throwing off his coat and hat he 
exclaimed, '' I would like to try that mule 



again." 



This time he faced the crupper, seized hold 
of the mule's tail, and coiled his legs around 
its body. The mule exhausted all its efforts to 
throw the rider but in vain. 

The audience cheered and the lad won his 
dollar. That boy was Ulysses Grant, and the 



lO GENERAL GRANT. 

incident reminds us of the same determined 
spirit he displayed many years later when com- 
manding the American armies. 

Ulysses Grant's father and mother were very 
kind to him ; they never inflicted punishment 
upon him. There is no doubt that he w^as an 
obedient boy. 

Many years afterward he said that he had 
never uttered a profane word in his life. He 
never would tell nor listen to vulgar or obscene 
stories. How many boys or men have such a 
clear record ? 

When not at work or at school he was al- 
lowed to hunt in the forest, fish or swim in the 
creek, or visit his friends far and near at his 
pleasure. 



II. 

GRANT AT WEST POINT. 

West Point is situated on the Hudson 
River, about fifty miles above New York City. 
It is a military school — that is, a school for 



GENERAL GRANT. II 



training boys to be soldiers. Those attending 
the school are called cadets. 

Each member of Congress has the right to 
appoint a boy of his district to this school. Mr. 
Hamer, the member of Congress from the dis- 
trict of Ohio in which the Grants lived, had ap- 
pointed another boy to the place ; but this boy 
failed to pass the examination and Ulysses 
Grant was appointed. 

At first he refused to go, fearing that he 
could not pass the examination ; but his father 
insisted, and he went. It was not long until he 
was ready for the long journey. 

He first took a steamboat on the Ohio River 
to Pittsburg, thence across the mountains to 
Harrisburg. From Harrisburg he took a rail- 
road train to Philadelphia, where he spent sev- 
eral days with relatives. 

It was a great thing for the lad to visit so 
large a city as Philadelphia. He had been to 
Cincinnati and Louisville, but these towns were 
not large at that time. 

While at Philadelphia he visited all the most 
interesting places in the city. He was after- 
ward described as a pure country boy, dressed 



12 GENERAL GRANT. 

in homespun clothes, and his shoes were very 
heavy, with toes as wide as the soles. He 
spent a day or two in New York City, then 
proceeded up the Hudson River to West Point. 

I have said that his parents gave him the 
name Hiram Ulysses ; but he is known to the 
world as Ulysses S. Grant. 

The change came about in this way. Before 
leaving home he had a trunk made, and the 
maker put his initials on it, " H. U. G." 

When he saw the big letters, he said, '' I 
won't have it so ; it spells ' hug.' The boys 
would plague me about it.'' And he changed 
it and put the middle name first. In this way 
he signed his name when he reached West 
Point. 

But it happened that the member of Con- 
eress who sent his name did not know his 
middle name, and thinking that it was the same 
as his mother's maiden name, wrote it '' Ulysses 
Simpson Grant," and so it was recorded at 
West Point. 

The boy found that it would be difficult to 
have it changed on the books, and he accepted 
it and ever after wrote it so. 



GENERAL GRANT. 1 3 

General Sherman afterward said, " I re- 
member seeing Grant's name on the bulletin 
board, where all the names of the new cadets 
were pasted. It was *U. S. Grant/ A lot of 
us began to make up names to fit the initials. 
One said * United States Grant.' Another, 
* Uncle Sam Grant.' A third said ' Sam Grant.' 
That name stuck to him. He was often called 
" Sam Grant " by the other cadets from that 
time on. 

There were many unpleasant things in the 
life of a cadet. He had to go through so much 
drilling; he had to get up at six o'clock in the 
morning in the w^inter and at five in the sum- 
mer ; he had to obey his teachers and superior 
officers, and to spend the time from morning 
till night in studies, and drills, and recitations. 
This was very hard for a boy used to the free- 
dom of country life. 

Ulysses Grant found it very hard at first, but 
in a few months he became used to it, and 
learned to like his new life. 

Let me quote a few sentences from a letter 
he wrote his cousin after he had been in the 
place about four months : 



14 GENERAL GRANT. 

"This is the most beautiful place I have 
ever seen. Here are hills and dales, rocks 
and river. From the window I can see 
the Hudson, that far-famed, beautiful river, 
with its bosom studded with hundreds of 
snowy sails. 

'* Over the river we are shown the house of 
Arnold, that base and heartless traitor to his 
country and his God. 

" It seems but a few days since I came here. 
It is because every hour has its duty which 
must be performed. There is much to dislike, 
but more to like. I mean to study hard and 
stay, if possible. 

" I have now been here four months, and 
have not seen a familiar face or spoken to a 
single lady. I wish some of the pretty girls 
were here. But I have seen great men, plenty 
of them. Let us see : General Scott, Mr. Van 
Buren, Washington Irving, and lots of other 
big bugs. 

'* If I were to come home with my uniform 
on, you would laugh. My pants set as tight to 
my skin as the bark to a tree. When I come 
home, the way I shall astonish you natives will 



GENERAL GRANT. 1 5 

be curious. I hope you will not take me for a 
baboon." 

The letter is a long one, and this is only a 
part of it. We see by it that our Ohio boy 
was learning to enjoy his new life as a cadet. 

Ulysses S. Grant was a pretty good student, 
but never stood at the head of his class. He 
was very modest and rather backward. 

He never engaged in anything bad, nor used 
impure or profane language, though he was 
very fond of sports. He had the highest re- 
gard for truth, and would never speak falsely 
even in jest. 

In one respect young Grant surpassed all his 
companions — horsemanship. He was the most 
daring and successful rider in the academy. 



III. 

RETURNING WEST. 



Ulysses Simpson Grant spent four years 
at West Point. With all the hard study and 
other duties he had learned to like the place. 
It is an attractive place, indeed. 



1 6 GENERAL GRANT. 

The academy is high on a bluff; and from it 
can be seen the beautiful, blue river, winding 
away among the hills until it is lost in the 
distance. 

Then there was much in the daily life of the 
cadet to attract a boy. The long lines of white 
tents for camping out in summer, the roll of 
the drum, the bugle call — these and many 
other things were sure to touch a boy's heart. 

One thing that Cadet Grant always liked was 
the cavalry drill — the drill on horseback. The 
infantry drill is the drill on foot. 

Did you ever see a body of soldiers in uni- 
form marching and keeping step ? It reminds 
one of a great centipede. Then when they 
turn a corner it looks like a spoke in a great 
wheel. How beautiful it looks especially when 
they have shining muskets and swords. 

Much of this drilling and marching comes in 
the daily life of the student at West Point. 

Ulysses Grant learned to like to stay there, 
as we have said ; but the time to leave had 
come. He had been there four years, and in 
all that time he had visited his people in Ohio 
but once. 



GENERAL GRANT. IJ 

They did not then take him for a baboon, as 
he feared. No, they said that he looked more 
manly than before. 

On reaching home he went first to his dear 
mother. *'Why, Ulysses," she said, her face 
shining with pride, "you've grown much 
straighter and taller." '* Yes," he answered, 
*' they teach us to be erect." 

But this time he was to go forth as a young 
officer in the army. He was made a second 
lieutenant of the Fourth Infantry, and ordered 
to go to Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, 
Missouri. After spending some weeks at his 
home in Ohio, he went to St. Louis and 
began his soldier life. 

Perhaps no young West Point graduate ever 
entered the army with less desire to remain in 
it than Grant. He felt that a soldier s life was 
distasteful to him. 

His great desire was to become a professor 
in some college. But it was not left to him to 
choose his own future. 



1 8 GENERAL GRANT. 



IV. 

THE YOUNG SOLDIER IN LOVE. 

One of the classmates of Ulysses Grant 
lived very near St. Louis. His name was 
Frederick Dent. The two boys became very 
good friends, and promised to visit each other. 

Fred made good his promise and went with 
Ulysses to Ohio w^hen they left West Point. 
Now it became very easy for Ulysses to return 
his visit, and he did so with a large per cent, 
of interest. 

The Dents lived but a few miles from Jeffer- 
son Barracks, where he was stationed, and he 
soon became a frequent caller at their home. 

There were several young people in the 
family, and they were so lively and jolly 
that the young soldier found it a very pleasant 
change from the dull life in camp. 

Now Frederick Dent had a sister named 
Julia, a pretty girl of seventeen. It was not 
long until the young officer and Miss Julia 
Dent became very good friends. 

They grew so fond of each other that their 



GENERAL GRANT. 1 9 

greatest delight was to be together. They 
often drove over the hills together, or strolled 
along the woody lanes near Julia's home. 

So it continued for many months. But they 
had not talked nor perhaps thought of what 
the future might be. They were simply happy 
in each other s company without hardly know- 
ing why. 

At this time there was much talk over the 
country about war with Mexico. Most people 
thought that war with that country was almost 
sure to come. The cause of it was this : 

Texas was about to be admitted into the 
Union as one of the United States. But Texas 
had belonged to Mexico, and Mexico was not 
willing" to allow it to enter our Union. The 
United States received Texas in March, 1845, 
and Mexico declared war on this country the 
next year. 

Before the war began the president thought 
it best to send an army to Texas. The 
Fourth Infantry to which Grant belonged was 
ordered to go to New Orleans in July, 1844. 

When this order came, he was away visiting 
in Ohio. He was soon informed by letter that 



20 GENERAL GRANT. 

he was to go down the Mississippi River, and 
not back to St. Louis. 

Then he thought of the lovely girl he had 
left far away in Missouri. He found out very 
suddenly that he was in love with her. 

He hardly knew that before. Now he knew 
it, and how could he go so far away without 
telling her of his love ? What could he do ? 

Well, we all know that when Grant decided 
to do a thing, he usually did it. He was now 
a man twenty-two years old and had plenty 
of courage. 

Instead of going directly down the river, 
he made a long trip to St. Louis to see Julia 
Dent. He couldn't go to war till he saw his 
sweetheart. 

When he rode up to her home, the family 
were just starting away to attend a wedding. 
Julia was in the carriage w^ith her brother. 

Ulysses asked her brother to ride his horse, 
while he took his place beside Julia in the 
carriage. That night as they drove through a 
lonely way he asked this charming girl if she 
would become his bride, and she answered, 
''Yes." 



GENERAL GRANT. 21 



A few days later the young soldier bade her 
a fond goodby and went away — far away to 
the Southland. And now we come to the 
Mexican War. 



V. 

THE MEXICAN WAR. 

Before the Mexican War had closed 
Ulysses Grant became a captain ; so we may 
now call him Captain Grant. I cannot attempt 
to give you a full history of this war. It lasted 
a little over a year; but as I have said, the 
soldiers were sent down into Texas before war 
was declared. 

Captain Grant was one of the first sent there. 
He believed that it was his duty to obey the 
command of his country. 

He was very brave and fearless in battle; 
but for two or three reasons we can readily 
believe that he did not go into this war very 
willingly. 

First, he always believed the war an un- 



22 GENERAL GRANT. 

just one, and that it should never have been 
made. 

Second, he was not anxious for the honor 
and glory of victory, as many men are. 

A third reason we can surmise was that he 
left behind his sweetheart, and was to see her 
but once in the next four years. 

The general who was sent to command the 
army in Texas was Zachary Taylor, who 
afterward became President of the United 
States. The army was stationed in different 
parts of Texas for about a year before the 
war began. 

Captain Grant wrote many letters to his 
friends describing the country. He speaks of 
the dense growth of tall prairie grass covering 
most of the country. He says that most of the 
country was very thinly settled ; but there 
were numerous bands of wild Indians rovine 
over the plains. 

The thing that seems to have impressed him 
most was the great herds of wild horses. 
They were often seen in such large numbers 
that no one could count them. 

Many of them were captured by means of 



GENERAL GRANT. 23 

the lasso and sold to the soldiers by the cap- 
tors. A good horse could be bought for three 
dollars. Five or six dollars was the price of 
the very best. 

Captain Grant had three excellent horses at 
one time ; but one day when his colored boy 
was leading them to water they all broke away 
and galloped off to the forest. He never 
found them. 

Let us now hasten on to the story of the 
war. In the spring of 1846 General Taylor 
had two small battles with the Mexicans. 
This was near the mouth of the Rio Grande 
River. 

After he had crossed that river and captured 
the town of Matamoras, he led his army west- 
ward to the city of Monterey. 

This place was defended by several thousand 
Mexicans, and General Taylor found it much 
harder to capture than he had found Mata- 
moras. The siege of Monterey continued for 
two days, when the town was captured. 

An incident occurred during the siege that is 
very interesting. A portion of the American 
army had fought their way through the streets 



24 GENERAL GRANT. 

almost to the plaza, a small park in the middle 
of the city. They then found that their ammu- 
nition was almost gone. 

It was very dangerous to remain where they 
were, or to go back or forward. The only 
thing to do was to secure more ammunition 
and fight their way on through. 

The colonel in command said, '* Boys, I must 
send some one back to General Twiggs for 
ammunition. It s a dangerous job, and I don't 
like to order any man to do it. Who'll volun- 
teer?" *' I will," said Captain Grant. 

"Good," said the Colonel, ''you're just the 
man. Keep on the side streets and ride hard." 
Grant was the best horseman in the army. He 
leaped upon his horse and started amid the 
cheers of his comrades. 

The ride was a most perilous one. Armed 
Mexicans were in every street. To save ex- 
posing his body above the back of his horse 
Grant swung himself down and held on with 
one foot back of the saddle and one hand 
wound in the horse's mane, guiding his course 
with the other hand. 

Hanging thus he rode at full speed, his 



GENERAL GRANT. 2$ 

horse leaping a four-foot wall. At every 
street-crossing the bullets whizzed past him ; 
but he escaped and reached the American lines 
unharmed. 

The town of Monterey was soon captured 
by the Americans. Some time after this the 
President of the United States, Mr. Polk, 
sent General Winfield Scott to Mexico to take 
general charge of the war. He was ordered 
to go by sea to Vera Cruz and from there to 
proceed into the heart of the country. 

A large number of the soldiers in the com- 
mand of General Taylor was now sent to join 
General Scott. Among these was Captain 
Grant. But, strictly speaking, he was not yet 
a captain. He had been made quartermaster 
by General Taylor and continued in this posi- 
tion under General Scott. 

The quartermaster of an army is the one 
who looks after the supplies of food and am- 
munition. One holding this office is not 
obliged nor expected to engage in fighting; 
but when a battle was in progress. Grant was 
always found at the front fighting as bravely as 
the bravest. 



26 GENERAL GRANT. 

General Scott captured Vera Cruz on March 
29, 1847. 

In April he began his march up the moun- 
tains toward the City of Mexico. It was one 
of the greatest marches in history. The road 
on which they traveled is said to be the one 
made by Cortez, the Spanish conqueror of the 
country of more than three centuries before. 

The commander of the Mexican army was 
General Santa Anna. He had been defeated 
in February by General Taylor in the battle of 
Buena Vista. 

Collecting his scattered forces, he now met 
General Scott in a mountain pass called Cerro 
Gordo. 

Santa Anna had placed his cannon along the 
narrow road half-way up the mountain-side, 
with chasms on the one side and vast moun- 
tain-walls on the other. He thought his posi- 
tion a safe one ; but Scott led his army silently 
by night up the mountain slopes and gained 
the rear of the enemy. 

Santa Anna was greatly suprised at this 
movement. The Americans not only won the 
battle, but took three thousand prisoners. 



GENERAL GRANT. 2/ 

Scott's army swept on like a tidal wave, 
capturing everything before it. At midsum- 
mer they came to the summit of the moun- 
tains. 

And now they opened their eyes upon one 
of the grandest scenes in the world — the pano- 
rama of the Mexican Valley — the mountain 
peaks that seemed to pierce the skies, crowned 
with perpetual snow ; the long slopes covered 
with the luxuriance of a tropical summer ; the 
sleeping valley with its sunlit lakes, and the 
City of the Montezumas nestled in the midst ! 



VI. 

CLOSE OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

Scott's army halted for some weeks on the 
mountains waiting for recruits. In August 
they made a descent into the valley toward the 
capital city. But before they could capture the 
city they had to meet the Mexican army in 
several severe engagements. 

In these Captain Grant was always at the 



28 GENERAL GRANT. 

front. He wrote home to his father: ** I do 
not mean you shall ever hear of my shirking 
my duty in battle. My post of quartermaster 
is considered to afford an officer an oppor- 
tunity to be relieved from fighting, but I do not 
and cannot see it in that light. You have 
always taught me that the post of danger is 
the post of duty. 

Grant was in all the battles in the Mexican 
War except Buena Vista. The officers speak 
of him as one of the bravest of the brave. 
We would hardly have expected so good a 
record from one not inclined by nature to a 
life of warfare. 

After this war Grant said to a friend : '' It 
was a mere accident that put me in the army. 
I had not much fight in me, and did not wish 
to go to war. I thought of being a teacher 
or a farmer, and thought of going to sea; but 
of all possible futures that I dreamed of before 
going to West Point, being a soldier was not 
one of them." 

General Scott soon captured the City of 
Mexico, and the war was over. By the treaty 
of peace signed in 1848, California, which 



GENERAL GRANT. 29 

had belonged to Mexico, now came into posses- 
sion of the United States. 

Most of the soldiers went home soon after 
the war closed, but Captain Grant with a few 
others remained for several months. Grant 
made during this time a study of the birds of 
the country. 

He examined more than two hundred differ- 
ent kinds and wrote much about them to his 
friends in Ohio, and especially to his girl in 
Missouri. He said that the birds of Mexico 
are not such sweet singers as those at home ; 
but they are far more beautiful in colors. 

In the spring of 1848 Captain Grant joined 
a party to ascend the great volcano, Popocate- 
petl, a big word and hard to pronounce; but 
the volcano is bigger than its name, and 
harder to climb than the word is to pronounce. 

You can find it in your geography. It is 
about ten miles from the city of Mexico, and is 
almost eighteen thousand feet high. The 
upper part is without trees or grass of any 
kind, and is covered with snow all the year 
round. 

The party started on horseback from a little 



30 GENERAL GRANT. 

village at the base of the mountain. They had 
guides and two pack-mules. Sometimes the 
path was very narrow. On the one side was 
a wall, on the other a deep chasm. They had 
to choose their way with great care. 

One of the pack-mules, with tw^o sacks of 
barley almost as big as itself on its back, fell 
over the precipice. It rolled over and over 
down the slope until it reached the bottom 
hundreds of feet below. 

They all thought the animal dashed to 
death ; but a few hours later it came walking 
up the path as though nothing had happened. 
The driver had found it at the bottom alive 
and scarcely injured. The bags of barley had 
protected it. 

Far up the mountain side the party came to 
a small deserted house with one room. Here 
they spent the night. They had now gone so 
far up that the tropical summer was left behind, 
and frigid winds howled about them all night. 

Next morning they proceeded on their up- 
ward journey; but they had to go on foot; 
their horses could go no farther. Soon they 
were above the clouds. 



GENERAL GRANT. 3 1 

The wind was most violent and dashed the 
snow into their faces until they could scarcely 
see their way. So they continued for some 
hours ; but when they found that they could 
^not reach the summit that day, they decided to 
return, and by night they had reached the land 
of birds and flowers. 

They next visited the great caves of Mexico, 
about ninety miles from the capital city. They 
chose the largest cave, and explored it for three 
miles. It is one of the greatest caves in the 
world. 

The stalactites hanging from above and the 
stalagmites rising from the floor presented a 
gorgeous and beautiful appearance when lit up 
by the rockets the party had with them. Soon 
after this Captain Grant returned to the United 
States. 



VII. 

A FEW YEARS OF PEACE. 



It would not be hard to guess what Captain 
Grant did when he returned to his own coun- 



32 GENERAL GRANT. 

try. You remember that just before he went 
away to the South he had asked Miss Julia 
Dent to become his wife. 

In the four years that had passed since then 
he had seen her but once. Now he hastened 
to her home, and they were quietly married. 

What can a soldier do when there is no war ? 
Those known as volunteers are usually dis- 
charged, and they return to their homes and 
become private citizens. Those belonging to 
the regular army are stationed at various 
places throughout the country. 

Grant belonged to the regular army. Soon 
after his marriage he was sent to Sackett's 
Harbor in New York. 

He took his young wife with him, and here 
they spent about six months, when he was 
transferred to Detroit, Michigan. They spent 
two uneventful years in Michigan, when the 
order came for him to move to the Pacific 
coast. 

A soldier's life is often a very hard one, even 
in time of peace. Ulysses Grant did not wish 
to go so far, but he had to obey if he wished to 
remain with the army. 



GENERAL GRANT. 33 

His family now consisted of a wife and baby 
boy, but he could not take them so far away ; 
so he bade them a long good-by. 

There was no Pacific Railroad at that time, 
and they had to go by water. They first went 
to New York and took a ship for the Isthmus 
of Panama. 

Grant had the greatest difficulty in crossing 
the Isthmus. He was still quartermaster and 
had to manage everything. They crossed for 
the most part on pack-mules, and it took 
several weeks waiting to secure enough to 
carry his regiment. 

There were a good many women and child- 
ren in the company, some of the soldiers hav- 
ing taken their families. While waiting, the 
cholera broke out among them, and their con- 
dition was dreadful. 

Grant was most active and faithful in caring 
for the sick. But with all his care, one-third 
of them died before they could get away from 
that unhealthy climate. 

Once across the Isthmus, they took another 
ship on the broad Pacific for San Francisco. 
They reached the Golden Gate in September. 



34 GENERAL GRANT. 

San Francisco was a lively place at that 
time. It was a few years after the discovery 
of gold in California. 

The miners would come to the city to sell 
their gold-dust and to have a good time as 
they called it. Many of them were rough and 
reckless men, and they gambled away all they 
had made before going back to the mines. 

Captain Grant and his regiment were soon 
ordered to the Columbia River in Oregon 
Territory. Here farm products were so high 
in price that Grant and a few other officers de- 
cided to try farming. 

They purchased a team of horses, plowed a 
large piece of ground, and planted it in pota- 
toes. They raised a large crop, but made no 
money by the venture. 

It happened that many others had engaged 
in the same business, and the potato crop was 
so great that not half of them could be used. 

Grant was again transferred and put in 
charge of the post at Humbolt Bay, Cali- 
fornia. 

There being no prospect of his promotion, 
he grew tired of the idleness of such a life, 



GENERAL GRANT. 35 

decided to resign from the army, to join his 

family at St. Louis and become a farmer. 

He resigned and returned East by way of 

New York, reaching St. Louis in August, 

1854. 

When he joined his family, he saw, for the 
first time, his second son, who had been born 
while he was on the Isthmus of Panama. 

Mrs. Grant owned a little farm near St. 
Louis. On this farm they built a small house 
and moved into it. 

The young soldier was not very well fitted 
for farming, though he had learned a good 
deal about it in Ohio when a boy. But he 
might have succeeded fairly well, as he was 
very industrious, but for the fact that he was 
attacked by the fever and ague. This gave 
him a great deal of trouble. 

In 1858 he left the farm and became a part- 
ner in a real-estate office with a relative in 
St. Louis. 

In this business he was not successful. He 
gave it up and went to Covington, Kentucky, 
to consult with his father, who now lived in 
that city. 



36 GENERAL GRANT. 

Mr. Jesse Grant at that time owned a store 
at Galena, Illinois, which was managed by two 
of his other sons. Ulysses, therefore, moved 
with his family to Galena, and here they were 
at the outbreak of the Rebellion in 1861. 



VIII. 
BEGINNING OF THE QVIL WAR. 

A WILD cry spread over the North in April, 
1861. Fort Sumpter had been fired on, and 
the cry was, " To arms ! to arms ! " 

For many years trouble had been brewing 
between the northern and southern parts of 
our country on account of the hated slavery 
question. 

At last the election of Lincoln caused an 
open revolt, and the Southern States se- 
ceded one by one from the Union. 

The object of the South was to set up a 
government of its own ; and had they suc- 
ceeded, this country would have been divided 
in the middle from east to west. 

President Lincoln decided that he must save 



GENERAL GRANT. 37 

the Union at all hazards, so that this great 
country which our fathers had loved so well 
should be preserved for our children. 

Fort Sumpter was on a little island off the 
coast of South Carolina. The State, demand- 
ing the surrender of the fort and being refused, 
fired upon it, and . the great Civil War was 
begun. 

The President called for seventy-five thou- 
sand volunteers to put dow^n the rebellion, and 
so hearty was the response that he had more 
than enough in a very few weeks. 

In the awful war of four years that followed 
many thousands of brave men were buried in 
unknown graves in the sunny South. On the 
other hand, some won fame and honor until 
the whole world praised them for what they 
did. 

The one who won the highest fame of all 
and the greatest honor on the battlefield was 
an obscure clerk in his father's store at Galena, 
Illinois. 

The three greatest soldiers of the Civil War 
had all come from Ohio — Grant, Sherman, 
Sheridan. 



38 GENERAL GRANT. 

In this little book I cannot give a history of 
the war. I shall attempt to give only a brief 
outline of the career of Ulysses Grant, the 
subject of this sketch. 

We have dwelled longer on the early part 
of his life because it is less known than the 
latter part, and because .this is written for 
young readers. The rest of his life reads like 
a romance. The rise of Grant was one of the 
wonders of the time. 

What dreamer would have predicted that 
this unknown clerk, whose life had been al- 
most a failure, would have commanded, within 
three years, a greater army than Napoleon 
ever commanded ? 

What dreamer would have predicted that he 
would be, within eight years. President of the 
United States! and would afterward receive 
honor from the kings and rulers of the world 
as no other American had ever received ! All 
this came to pass. 

When the President's call reached Galena, a 
public meeting was held, and Captain Grant 
was chosen to preside. He afterward accom- 
panied the volunteers to Springfield. 



GENERAL GRANT. 39 

Here he was appointed colonel of an Illinois 
regiment of volunteers by Mr. Yates, governor 
of the State. He was the first to sign Grant's 
commission. 

Years afterward he said, ** It was the most 
glorious day of my life when these fingers 
signed that commission." 

When Colonel Grant was to take charge, 
John A. Logan and others addressed the 
men. Then there were calls for Grant to 
speak. 

He greatly disliked to speak to an audi- 
ence, but they kept calling for him and he went 
before them. 

His speech contained only four words. 
They were these: **Go to your quarters." 
The men were pleased with his short, busi- 
ness-like manner. They saw that there was no 
bluster about him. 

It would take a large volume to tell all that 
Grant did during the war. We can only 
follow his general movements and give an 
incident here and there. 

After a few months' camping and marching 
in Missouri he was ordered to take charge at 



40 GENERAL GRANT. 

Cairo, Illinois, and was made a general ; so we 
may now call him General Grant. 

His first battle was at Belmont, some miles 
down the Mississippi, on the western bank of 
the river. He won the battle, but had a nar- 
row escape from being killed. 

Just after the battle he was riding along 
through a cornfield when he came suddenly 
upon a body of the enemies' cavalry only a 
few rods away. 

The commander of the cavalry said, 
"There's a Yankee, if you want to try your 
aim." But they did not know it was Grant as 
he had not on the general's uniform, and no 
one fired at him ; they were firing at the boats 
in the river. 

Grant turned his horse and galloped away to 
the river, where his men were waiting for him 
in a boat. He rode down the high and steep 
river-bank and over a narrow plank into the 
boat. 

On reaching the boat he went up into the 
captain's room and lay down on a sofa. In a 
few minutes he arose, and the next instant a 
bullet whizzed into the room, went through 



GENERAL GRANT. 4 1 

the head of the sofa, and buried itself in the 
foot. Had the general remained there a mo- 
ment longer, he would have been killed. 



IX. 
FORT DONELSON AND PITTSBURG LANDING, 

At the beginning of February, 1862, Gen- 
eral Grant, with an army of nearly twenty 
thousand men, was moving up the Tennessee 
River through Kentucky. There was a Con- 
federate fort on that river called Fort Henry. 

When we speak of Confederate forts or 
armies, we mean those belonging to the South, 
because the seceded States called themselves 
** The Confederate States of America." 

The Northern armies were called the Union 
or Federal armies. Fort Henry was captured 
without much fighting, and Grants army 
moved across the country to the more import- 
ant Fort Donelson. 

The Tennessee River, rising in western Vir- 
ginia, crosses the State of Tennessee, makes a 
great curve through northern Alabama, crosses 



42 GENERAL GRANT. 

Tennessee again, and flows through western 
Kentucky into the Ohio. At some points the 
Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers are but a 
few miles apart. 

Fort Donelson on the Cumberland, but 
twelve miles from Fort Henry on the Tennes- 
see, was one of the most important strong- 
holds in the South. If this could be captured 
by the Union army, it would open a large 
portion of the Mississippi Valley to the North. 

General Grant believed the fort could be 
taken, and led his army to the siege. During 
that march of twelve miles many of the 
soldiers threw away their overcoats and 
blankets. 

The weather had been very mild, and they 
thought that it would always be so in the 
South. But a sudden change came. The 
ground was frozen solid in a night, and there 
was much suffering among the soldiers. 

There were nearly twenty thousand men in 
Fort Donelson ; but they stood the siege only 
a few days when General Buckner, who com- 
manded the fort, sent to Grant asking what 
terms of surrender he would give. 



GENERAL GRANT. 43 



Grant answered that nothing would do but 
unconditional surrender. This became one of 
his famous sayings, and he was sometimes 
called *' Unconditional Surrender" Grant, the 
initials *' U. S." being the same as those of his 
right name. 

The fort soon surrendered, and all its stores, 
arms, and ammunition fell into the hands of 
General Grant. 

This was the first great victory of his life, and 
the name of Grant now began to be heard on 
all sides from one end of the country to the 
other. 

After the fall of Fort Donelson the Union 
army moved southward through Tennessee un- 
til it came early in April to a place on the Ten- 
nessee River called Pittsburg Landing— that 
is, a landing for boats on the bank of the river. 
It was near the northern boundary of 

Mississippi. 

Here was fought one of the greatest battles 
of the war. It is sometimes called the battle 
of Shiloh, after a little church of that name 
around which the battle raged. 

General Albert Sidney Johnston with a large 



44 GENERAL GRANT. 

Confederate army had come northward to meet 
the Union forces. 

It was Sunday, April 6, 1862. The southern 
skies were bright and serene that morning, and 
the little birds were singing gaily among the 
trees. 

The terrible work of the day began about 
sunrise. First came the clang of arms and the 
marshalling of soldiers. Then a few shots 
were fired, then more and more, until there 
was one continuous roll, and no ear could dis- 
tinguish one from another. 

So it continued all day till nightfall ; but 
neither side gained a victory. 

About three o'clock in the afternoon, while 
General Johnston, commander of the Southern 
army, was riding in the midst of the battle 
cheering his men, he was struck in the thigh 
by a musket ball. 

His life might have been saved had he im- 
mediately sought a surgeon ; but he kept on 
cheering his soldiers. Soon his voice weakened 
and his face turned deadly pale. He was then 
taken to the rear ; but it was too late. In a 
few minutes he was dead. 



GENERAL GRANT. 45 

The South suffered a great loss in the death, 
of General Johnston. Some think that he was 
the ablest of all the southern generals. His 
army now passed into the command of General 
Beauregard the man who had fired on Fort 
Sumpter the year before. 

When the battle opened in the morning, 
General Grant was not present. He had spent 
the night at Savannah, a few miles down the 
river. 

He arrived on the field early in the fore- 
noon and spent the day riding from one di- 
vision of the army to another, planning and 
cheering on the officers and soldiers. When 
night came, no victory had been won, and both 
armies rested on the field ready to renew the 
fight next morning. 

The second day of the battle of Shiloh was 
almost as severe as the first; but the contest 
was now unequal. Generals Buel and Lew 
Wallace had arrived during the night, each 
with several thousand men, to the aid of 
Grant. 

Early in the afternoon the Confederates be- 
gan to give way, and before night they were in 



46 GENERAL GRANT. 

full retreat toward Corinth, Mississippi, a town 
twenty miles away. This was the second 
great victory for General Grant in the Civil 
War. But he was never so highly praised for 
this victory as for the capture of Fort Donel- 
son. 

It was claimed that he was not well prepared 
for the battle at Pittsburg Landing, and that he 
should have been on the ground at the begin- 
ning and not several miles away spending the 
night in the city. It took him more than a 
year to regain his popularity. 



X. 

VICKSBURG AND CHATTANOOGA. 

The most important stronghold in the 
South was Vicksburg. The city is situated on 
a great bend in the Mississippi, some hundreds 
of feet above the river on the eastern bank. 

The leaders of the Confederacy believed 
that the city could not be captured ; but Gen- 
eral Grant and his principal adviser General 
Sherman thought it possible to capture the 



GENERAL GRANT. 47 

place and thus open the great river to northern 
commerce. 

On leaving Pittsburg Landing the army had 
little to do but drill for some months. Thus 
passed the summer, with a small battle now 

and then. 

In the autumn General Grant led his army 
down the Mississippi with a view of capturing 
Vicksburg. 

The winter months were spent above the 
city, but there being no opportunity to do 
what he had aimed to do from that position, 
the general now decided to run the batteries 
and attack the city from below. 

This was a most dangerous thing to do. All 
along the river bank were planted batteries, 
tier above tier, with frowning cannon to guard 
the river. 

It was about the middle of April, 1863, a 
year after the battle of Shiloh, when one dark 
night the boats started down the river. 

There were several gunboats, built mostly 
of iron, and three transports, smaller boats, 
built of wood. They floated down the river 
silently, hoping to get past unseen. But when 



48 GENERAL GRANT. 

opposite the city about midnight, they were 
discovered, and the batteries opened on them a 
furious fire. 

The scene was one of unusual grandeur. 
The river was lit up with the burning powder 
until it seemed like daylight. 

The gunboats were often struck by the can- 
non balls, but escaped with little damage. Of 
the transports, two were much disabled, but es- 
caped total destruction, while the third, called 
the *' Henry Clay," was set on fire and burned 
to the water's edge. 

The army of General Grant was now below 

the city, but they had some serious work to do 

before settling down to the siege — to secure a 

. base of supplies, and to drive back an army 

that had come to meet them. 

To do this required a month, and in that 
month three battles were fought — the battles 
of Raymond, Jackson, and Champion Hills. 
In all these Grant was successful. 

By the middle of May the army from the 
North had settled about the doomed city in 
dark and threatening lines. The cry soon 
arose : ** Storm the works, storm the works." 



GENERAL GRANT. 



49 



General Grant was a cool-headed business 
man, and not the one to yield to any thought- 
less popular demand ; but on this occasion he 
thought, perhaps, the city could be taken by 
one grand assault, and so decided to storm the 
works. 

The twenty-second of May was the day 
chosen for the great assault. The advance 
was made at ten o'clock in the morning. But 
General Pemberton from behind the works met 
Grant's army with a most deadly fire. 

Column after column of Federal soldiers 
bravely advanced, only to be swept down by 
the terrific fire of the enemy. Thus it con- 
tinued all day, and when night came the 
Union army had won nothing; but they had 
lost nearly three thousand men ! 

General Grant now saw that the city could 
not be taken by direct assault, and a regular 
siege was begun, which continued for six 
weeks. 

Durinc^ this time the Union soldiers worked 
like marmots, digging into the earth under- 
mining the Confederate works, while the crack 
of the rifle from the picket lines and the roar 



50 GENERAL GRANT. 

of an occasional cannon never ceased day nor 
night. 

Across the river were stationed several bat- 
teries, and from these arose nightly the shriek- 
ing shells as they trailed like meteors across 
the sky and fell and burst within the city. 

On the third of July a white flag was seen 
waving above the parapet. Men were sent to 
inquire its meaning, and they found that two 
of Pemberton's staff had been sent to confer 
with the Union commander. 

The two were blindfolded and brought with- 
in the Union lines to General Grant. They 
explained that they were sent to confer con- 
cerning the surrender of the city. The people 
were in a starving condition and could hold 
out no longer. 

Arrano^ements were soon made, and the 
next day, the fourth of July, was celebrated by 
the fall of Vicksburg, with its thirty thousand 
soldiers, into the hands of the Federal army. 

Slowly and sadly the troops who had de- 
fended the city so long and so bravely came 
forth and laid down their arms. 

Then began a march of several days along 



GENERAL GRANT. $1 

the country roads — long lines of gray guarded 
by long lines of blue — those in blue flushed 
with victory, those in gray being prisoners of 
war. Yet there were no jeers nor insults 
offered by the victors ; but many were the acts 
of kindness and expressions of brotherly 
esteem. 

At the same time as the surrender of Vicks- 
burg the news of the great victory at Gettys- 
burg was flashed over the country, and the 
general belief took possession of the people 
that the Southern cause was lost and the ' 
Union would be saved. 

The great work on the Mississippi had now 
been done, and " the Father of Waters flowed 
unvexed to the sea." But a few hundred miles 
from Vicksburg, at Chattanooga, Tennessee, 
the Union forces had met with disaster. 
: The battle of Chickamauga had been fought 
and lost by General Rosecrans. The defeat of 
the Federal army would have been very disas- 
trous indeed had it not been for the brave 
stand made by General Thomas, who was 
afterward called '' The Rock of Chickamauga." 

After this battle Rosecrans' army was hem- 



52 GENERAL GRANT, 

med in the town of Chattanooga with little to 
eat, while ten thousand of their horses had 
starved to death. 

General Rosecrans was now relieved of the 
command, and General Grant appointed to take, 
his place. 

Chattanooga is situated on the southern 
bank of the Tennessee River, in a beautiful 
valley between Missionary Ridge on the east 
and Lookout Mountain on the west, and is not 
far from the northern boundary of Georgia. 
' Missionary Ridge is a succession of lofty 
hills with a trend north and south, and ap- 
proaches within half a mile of the river. 

Lookout Mountain is a rugged steep two 
thousand feet high, with its trend in the same 
direction. Its northern extremity is washed 
by the Tennessee River, which sweeps in a 
great curve to the base of the mountain. 

Far up toward the summit of this mountain 
was encamped a large portion of General 
Bragg's army overlooking the town of Chatta- 
nooga, whilst the remainder occupied Mission- 
ary Ridge. 

General Grant had decided that Lookout 



GENERAL GRANT, 53 

Mountain must be captured from the enemy, 
and General Hooker was chosen for the ardu- 
ous task; at the same time Sherman was to 
charge upon Missionary Ridge. 

November 24 was the day fixed for the 
storming of Lookout Mountain. 

Slowly the blue lines of soldiers were seen 
winding up the mountain-side, hidden now and 
then by trees or jutting crags. They reached 
the summit and there a fierce battle was 
fought. 

During part of the day a mist enveloped the 
top of the mountain, so that nothing could be 
seen from the valley below. 

This battle of Lookout Mountain has been 
called the battle above the clouds. Hooker 
was successful in getting possession of the 
mountain summit ; but the work was but half 
done. 

Missionary Ridge, which had been stormed 
the same day by General Sherman, was still in 
the hands of the enemy at nightfall. 

Another hard day's fighting was required to 
gain possession and to drive the enemy from 
his stronghold. By the end of the second day 



54 GENERAL GRANT. 

the victory was complete, and all of Missionary 
Ridge was in the hands of the Union army. 

During this battle, as also that of Lookout 
Mountain, General Grant stood on Orchard 
Knob, near Chattanooga, directing all the gen- 
eral movements of the armies. 

The change in the condition of the North- 
ern troops in and near Chattanooga within a 
short time after Grant took charge was very 
marked. Before he came they were defeated 
and discouraged ; within a few weeks after he 
became their commander they were rejoicing 
over victory. 

The credit for this great change was awarded 
to General Grant. This success was now 
coupled with his great work at Vicksburg, and 
he became the most famous general in the 
United States. 

The eyes of the whole country were turned 
upon him. His fame spread beyond the seas 
as one of the greatest generals of modern times. 
But with all this he was as quiet and modest as 
ever. Not a word of boasting escaped his 
lips. 

He was described by one of his staff as a 



GENERAL GRANT. 55 

man of slim figure, rather stooped, weighing 
less than a hundred and fifty pounds, always 
cheerful, and having dark, gray eyes and a 
low musical voice. 

A motion was passed in Congress in Febru- 
ary, 1864, to revive the rank of Lieutenant- 
General, which had been unused for more than 
half a century. It was also decided to place all 
the armies of the United States under the 
command of one man. 

The man selected for this new honor and 
this new responsibility was General Ulysses S. 
Grant. 



XI. 

FROM THE WILDERNESS TO APPOMATTOX. 

The rank of lieutenant-general had been 
held by only one person in our history before 
it was conferred on Grant. That was Wash- 
ington. It is one grade higher than the rank 
of Major-General and next to the highest that 
can be given, the very highest being simply 
*' General." 



56 GENERAL GRANT. 

As soon as the new honor had been conferred 
on General Grant he was called to Washing- 
ton. He and President Lincoln had never 
met. Soon after his arrival in the capital city, 
he attended a public reception at the White 
House. 

President Lincoln was busy shaking hands 
with the people when he looked over the crowd 
and exclaimed, 

'' Why, here is General Grant ! Well, this is 
a great pleasure, I assure you." 

He stepped forward and seized the general's 
hand, and the two stood for some minutes 
talking. 

There was eight inches difference in height 
between them, and it looked odd to see them 
standing together. The crowd was now dense, 
and the people began to become excited when 
they found that the hero of Vicksburg was 
among them. They began to cheer and cry, 
''Grant!" ''Grant!" "Grant!" 

Owing to the general's low stature it was 
difficult to see him, and he was induced to 
stand on a sofa. It was thought that when the 
people had a good look at him they would 



GENERAL GRANT. 57 

retire, but now they began to shake hands with 
him and it was more than an hour before he 
could get away and have a talk with the presi- 
dent. 

Let us now hasten on to the last great scenes 
of the Civil War. General Grant, who was 
now commander of all the armies of the United 
States, left General Sherman to continue in the 
West and decided to take command in person 
of the army of the Potomac in Virginia. 

This army had been first under the command 
of General McClellan. It had also been led by 
Generals Pope, Burnside and Hooker, but was 
now commanded by General Meade, who had 
won the great victory at Gettysburg the sum- 
mer before. 

General Grant now hastened to Virginia and 
took personal charge of the army of the Poto- 
mac. It was a great army of more than a 
hundred thousand men; but the Southern 
army, commanded by General Robert E. Lee, 
was almost as great. 

These two vast armies now stood face to face 
like two ferocious tigers ready to leap upon 
each other in deadly combat. 



58 GENERAL GRANT. 

On the fifth and sixth of May, 1864, occurred 
the two days' fight known as the battle of the 
Wilderness, and a week later the battle of 
Spottsylvania. 

These were dreadful scenes of strife, and the 
loss on both sides was very great. I shall 
spare the reader the details of these bloody 
scenes. 

General Grant had a thorough knowledge of 
the great work before him. His aim was to 
destroy Lee's army and capture the Confeder- 
ate capital, Richmond. It was thought that 
this would bring peace sooner than anything 
else. To this end he bent every energy. 

It was about this time that he wrote to 
Washington, ** I shall fight it out on this line, if 
it takes all summer." He said to a friend, *' I 
shall take no backward step." And so he 
pressed on to the goal, taking no backward 
step, till his object was gained. 

President Lincoln said of him : " Grant is the 
first general I have had. You know how it 
has been with all the rest As soon as I put a 
man in command of the army, he would come 
to me with his plans, as much as to say, ' Now, 



GENERAL GRANT. 59 

I don't believe I can do it, but if you say so, 
I'll try,' and so put the responsibility on me. 
They all wanted me to be the general. Now, 
it isn't so with Grant. He hasn't told me what 
his plans are. I don't know and I don't want 
to know. I'm glad to find a man that can go 
ahead without me." 

In time of battle Grant never became excited, 
never lost his head. He won the praise of all 
by his despatches. They were short, terse, and 
to the point, and not a trace of bluster or egot- 
ism can be found in them. 

Another thing for which Grant was noted 
was his care of the wounded. It gave him the 
greatest pain to see men in agony, and he did 
all for them in his power. 

One day while riding along he saw a young 
soldier, only a boy, dying with a wound in his 
breast. A horseman had just galloped by and 
splashed mud in the boy's face. The general 
dismounted and tenderly wiped the mud from 
his face with his handkerchief 

Now we must mention a serious mistake 
made by General Grant, one that he regretted 
as lone as he lived. It was the assault on Lee's 



6o GENERAL GRANT. 

entrenchments at Cold Harbor on June the 
third. 

Lee s army was behind a strong embank- 
ment when Grant ordered an assault. The 
result of the battle of Cold Harbor was awful. 
The Union army lost more than ten thousand 
men in a few minutes, while Lee's loss was less 
than a thousand. 

General Grant now saw that Lee could not 
be captured by direct assault, and that it would 
take months of weary watching to do what he 
had to come to do. 

Let us hasten over these months. He 
moved his army southward to near Petersburg, 
and here they waited and did but little during 
the fall and winter. This brings us to April, 
1865, the fatal month for the Southern Con- 
federacy. 

General Lee had been guarding with great 
vigilance Richmond and Petersburg, but his 
men were almost destitute. Their clothes were 
in rags and they had little to eat. 

There was now one hard battle fought on 
the first day of April, the battle of Five Forks, 
in which General Sheridan was the hero. This 



GENERAL GRANT, 6 1 

broke Lee's lines and hopelessly scattered his 
forces. The next day Grant took possession 
of Richmond and Petersburg. 

It was Sunday morning, and Jefferson Davis, 
president of the Confederacy, was in church 
when he received a message from Lee that 
Richmond must be surrendered. He arose, 
left the church, and soon fled from the city. 
He was afterward taken captive. 

Lee now made a desperate effort to lead his 
broken forces southward to join the army of 
General Johnston, but soon he found out that 
it was too late. 

Grant's army was in hot pursuit. The end 
came on the ninth of April. The two great 
generals met in a two-story brick house near 
the village of Appomattox, Virginia. Lee 
surrendered his whole army to Grant. 

This ended the great Civil War, which had 
spread like a blighting pestilence over the land 
and brought woe to many a happy home. But 
the war with all its cost was a blessing to the 
nation. 

Slavery had perished ; and our country 
rose from that great conflict like a phoenix from 



62 GENERAL GRANT. 

its ashes, with youth renewed and stronger 
than before. 

Since then the North and the South have 
come to feel a common brotherhood as never 
before — and so may it ever be ; may there be 
one grand harmony increasing with the years. 



XII. 
GENERAL GRANT BECOMES PRESIDENT. 

Nothing in the Hfe of General Grant showed 
his greatness more truly than the way in which 
he received the surrender of the army of Gen- 
eral Lee. 

Many a one would have shown a proud and 
haughty spirit at such a time ; but not so with 
Grant. He used the greatest care not to hurt 
Lee's feelings. Nor to the soldiers of Lee's 
army did he utter a harsh word. 

On the other hand he fed them from his own 
stores, sent them home on parole, and allowed 
them to take their horses and mules with them 
to use on their farms. 

The parole of soldiers is a promise not to 



GENERAL GRANT. 63 

engage in the war again. If every one North 
and South had acted in the spirit of General 
Grant on this occasion, that bitter war-feeHng 
would have died much sooner than it did. 

The news that peace had come spread over 
the North, and shouts of gladness were heard 
on all sides. The name of General Grant was 
on every tongue. 

Others had done much toward savine the 
Union and bringing back peace ; but all agreed 
that General Grant did most of all. 

Lest this narrative becomes too long, we 
must now pass over such interesting subjects as 
the grand review of the soldiers in Washington 
before being dismissed to their homes, the sad 
death of President Lincoln, the serious trouble 
President Johnson had with Congress in recon- 
structing the Southern States, and many other 
things. 

After the death of Lincoln, General Grant 
was looked upon as the most honored citizen 
of the nation. When the presidential election 
drew near, both of the great political parties 
wished to make him a candidate for the office. 

It was not at first known which party he 



64 GENERAL GRANT. 

preferred. His father had been a Whig, but he 
himself had voted with the Democrats just 
before the war. At length he signified his 
preference for the principles of the Republican 
party, and was nominated by that party for the 
presidency against Governor Seymour of New 
York by the Democrats. 

In his letter of acceptance, Grant used the 
words, *' Let us have peace," and these words 
became the cry of the party during the cam- 
paign. 

He now retired to his old home at Galena, 
Illinois, refusing to take any part in the cam- 
paign. He was elected by a very large major- 
ity, and inaugurated President of the United 
States on March 4, 1869. 

During President Grant's first term he made 
a good many enemies in his own party. These 
banded together, called themselves the Liberal 
Republican Party, and nominated Horace 
Greeley, the great New York editor, for the 
presidency. The Democrats also voted for 
Mr. Greeley ; but Grant was again elected by a 
great majority. 

Very briefly can we dwell in these pages on 



GENERAL GRANT. 65 

the events of Grant's administration. In 1869 
the Pacific Railroad was completed, and one 
can now travel fi'om ocean to ocean in a 
shorter time than it took to go from Boston to 
Philadelphia in old colonial days. 

One of the inventions of this period is 
among the most important of modern times — 
the telephone, by which one can converse with 
another hundreds of miles away. 

Perhaps the most important occurrence in 
our foreign relations was the Treaty of Wash- 
ington. This was effected at Washington 
City in 1871 between the United States and 
Great Britain. 

This treaty provided among other things 
that a committee of five should meet and settle 
the Alabama claims. 

During the war a number of Southern ves- 
sels that preyed upon our commerce had been 
fitted out in England. 

The chief of these was the Alabama. The 
United States demanded pay for this, and the 
five men met at Geneva, Switzerland, in 1872, 
and awarded this country fifteen and a half mil- 
lion dollars in payment for the damage done. 



66 GENERAL GRANT. 

The most memorable event in President 
Grant's administration was the Centennial cele- 
bration at Philadelphia in 1876. It was in this 
city that the Declaration of Independence had 
been passed a hundred years before. 

A great nation had grown from the original 
thirteen States in the century that had passed, 
and now it was fitting that a great celebration 
be held in the city in which Independence had 
been born. 



XIII. 
TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 

General Grant was better fitted for the 
duties of a soldier than for those of President. 
He had never studied the science of govern- 
ment, and was not well adapted to dealing with 
politicians and office seekers. 

He was so honest that he too readily be- 
lieved in the honesty of others and trusted 
men who were unworthy of trust, and numer- 
ous scandals were brought to light during his 
second term. He made many enemies; but 
all our presidents have done that. 



GENERAL GRANT. 6/ 

Soon after he retired from office he started 
on a tour around the world, and was absent a 
little over two years. 

He was received in foreign lands with such 
marks of honor as to make every American 
feel proud that so distinguished a person was 
an American. 

In Enorland he dined with the Queen and 
with many other prominent people. Great 
crowds gathered to see him wherever he went. 

In Ireland a little girl called out from the 
crowd and asked him to give her love to her 
aunt who was in America. 

In every city he visited, the people would 
gather by thousands to cheer and welcome 

him. 

In one place they took the horses from his 
carriage and the men drew it through the 
streets amid the cheering multitude. 

He visited France, Spain, Portugal, Switzer- 
land, Italy, Germany, Russia, and, indeed, all 
the European countries. In every one he was 
received by those high in authority — kings, 
queens, princes, and rulers — with the highest 
marks of honor. 



68 GENERAL GRANT. 

As the cold season approached the party 
went south and spent the winter in Egypt and 
Palestine. The next summer was passed in 
northern Europe, after which the general went 
to the far East. 

He visited India, Siam, China, and Japan. 
The honor shown the great general in these 
Oriental countries was even greater than that 
shown in Europe. 

After more than two years spent in foreign 
travel, General Grant, with his wife and son 
who were with him, embarked on a steamship 
for home. 

They crossed the Pacific Ocean and reached 
San Francisco in September, 1879. 

His coming was announced by drums and 
bands of music and the boom of cannon. A 
fleet of vessels went out into the bay to meet 
him. 

From here he proceeded eastward across the 
continent to Philadelphia, from which city he 
had started. 

Thus he had gone around the world, and 
had received greater honor in foreign lands 
than any other American had ever received. 



GENERAL GRANT. 69 

The next year his friends attempted to nomi- 
nate him again for president, but they were not 
successful. 

General Grant now took up his residence in 
New York City. Here he engaged in business 
with a dishonest man and lost everything he 
had. 

He was soon after put on the retired list as 
a general of the army. This gave him a fair 
salary, and everything seemed to point to a 
quiet, happy old age. But alas for human hopes ! 

In the fall of 1884 he felt a pain in the throat, 
which gave him trouble for some weeks before 
he gave it much thought. He was then ex- 
amined by physicians, and it was found to be a 
cancer of the incurable sort. 

For nine months the great conqueror 
struggled wnth the fatal disease, but nothing 
could check it. 

He had begun to write out his experience, to 
be published for the benefit of his family. 
During his illness he continued this until it 
was completed. 

It was published in two large volumes en- 
titled *' Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant." 




TOMB OF GENERAL U. S. GRANT. 



GENERAL GRANT. yi 

It is written in very modest and concise lan- 
guage. Mrs. Grant received nearly half a mil- 
lion dollars for it 

The general grew worse until July, 1885, 
when he was removed from his city home to 
Mount McGregor, near Saratoga, New York. 

Here it was his privilege to breathe the 
mountain air but a few days. On the twenty- 
third of the month he had to answ^er the call 
that comes sooner or later to all. On this day 
the great hero breathed his last. 

His funeral took place in New York City 
and was attended by a million people. His 
body was laid to rest in Riverside Park over- 
looking the Hudson. Since then a magnifi- 
cent monument has been erected to mark his 
burial place — one of the most beautiful in the 
world. 



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